Verizon Communications

Verizon (NTSE: VZ) is a telecommunications company headquartered in New York (and incorporated in Delaware). It formed in 2000 with the merger of Bell Atlantic Corp. and GTE Corp. In 2010, Verizon had total revenue of $106.6 billion. Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg received $18.2 million in total compensation that same year; Seidenberg is also a Director of Blackrock.

Ties to American Legislative Exchange Council
Verizon is a member of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). It has served on the ALEC Telecommunications and Information Technology Task Force.

ALEC's Executive Director Ronald Scheberle worked "for 31 years as a key member of the Verizon and GTE Federal and State Governmental Affairs Advocacy Team."

Political contributions
In 2010, Verizon gave a total of $1.6 million to federal candidates. $783,541 to Democrats and $809,206 to Republicans. Of that total, $97,570 was given by individuals and $1.52 million was contributed by the PAC.

CEO Ivan Seidenberg contributed $32,000 to candidates in the 2010 election cycle. He was a "bundler" for John McCain (R)'s 2008 presidential campaign, raising approximately $117,850.

On June 30, 2011, the Center for Responsive Politics wrote, "Contributions to lawmakers and federal lobbying expenditures by telecommunications interests have spiked as a result of government intervention in the market. Facing potentially stifling federal regulations that threaten to short-circuit their profits, AT&T, Sprint, Verizon and T-Mobile have each dumped millions of dollars into campaign contributions and federal lobbying expenditures, hoping that a barrage of political influence will subdue any unwanted restrictions."

Past Elections
Verizon Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Seidenberg was a Bush Pioneer, having raised at least $100,000 for Bush in the 2004 presidential election.

Peter Davidson, Senior Vice President for Federal Government Relations (lobbyist) at Verizon, was a Bush Pioneer. Davidson passed twice through the government-industry revolving door serving as general counsel and policy director to then-House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas). Davidson then worked for Qwest Communications, then in the George W. Bush administration with the U.S. Trade Representative, then moving to Verizon.

Verizon gave $1,086,400 to federal candidates in the 05/06 election cycle through its political action committee (PAC) - 36% to Democrats, 63% to Republicans, and 1% to other parties.

Lobbying
In 2010, Verizon Communications spent $16,750,000 on lobbying expenditures. A full list of lobbyists used can be seen HERE.

Verizon lobbied for over 110 bills in the House and Senate in 2010.

The company spent $13,050,000 for lobbying in 2006. About half of the money went for in-house lobbyists with the remainder being spent on over 40 lobbying firms, some of which were Federalist Group, Patton Boggs, Ernst & Young, Quinn Gillespie & Associates, Bryan Cave Strategies, DCI Group, Cassidy & Associates, The Livingston Group, Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw, and Parry Romani DeConcini & Symms.

Personnel
Selected members of the Board of Directors:
 * Robert W. Lane, Also Director at General Electric
 * Joseph Neubauer, Also Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, ARAMARK and Director at Macy's and Wachovia
 * Clarence Otis, Jr., Also Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Darden Restaurants
 * Walter V. Shipley, Also Director at Exxon Mobil and Wyeth
 * John W. Snow, Former United States Secretary of the Treasury under George W. Bush

Contact details
140 West St. New York, NY 10007 Phone: 212-395-1000 Fax: 212-571-1897 Web: http://www22.verizon.com/

Related SourceWatch resources

 * Astroturf
 * Network neutrality

External articles

 * Jeff Tyler, "Faking the count: Verizon is among the phone companies fighting for the right to compete directly with cable companies", Marketplace, NPR, April 27, 2006.